Editors ́ Picks

Europe still surfing the waves of populism

EDITOR:

Maria João Morais, Madrid

Austria has become the latest country in Europe to see voting for far-right parties bolstered. In the elections held on October 15th, the populist Freedom Party (FPO) achieved its best result ever, with 26% of the vote. With an anti-immigrant and anti-establishment stance, the nationalist party’s share of the vote was only bettered by the right-wing People’s Party (OVP), which achieved 31.5% of votes.

Just 31 years old, People’s Party front-runner Sebastian Kurz will become the world’s youngest ever national leader, likely to form a coalition supported by the Freedom Party. As the country swings to the right, rhetoric from the People’s Party candidate is not so distant from the xenophobic message spread by the far right party and has proved effective in gaining votes.

Founded in 1956 by former Nazis, the FPO had maintained a modest but steady support in Austrian politics until the 90’s, usually achieving less than 10%. The 2015 refugee crisis (when 90,000 Syrian refugees entered the country), however, boosted its popularity.

But it was not just the far right who scapegoated immigrants for the country’s problems. The growth of the Freedom Party led Kurz to follow suit in campaigning on racist populist ideas, particularly on immigration issues. During the election campaign, the People’s Party announced restrictions on immigration and a stricter stance on crime and terrorism. As a foreign minister in the previous Government, Kurz had already closed the Austrian border to refugees in 2016 and passed an Integration Act in 2017 banning the full-face veil.

Apart from the expected xenophobic measures, the new coalition is also likely to adopt neoliberal and anti-welfare reforms characterised by its support for free market economics. Both the Freedom Party and the People’s Party have announced plans to cut public spending on social benefits, introduce more flexible labour legislation and cut corporate tax rates. At the same time, they are likely to deepen authoritarian measures such as curtailing the right to protest or controlling public broadcasting.

After the rise of far-right parties in recent European elections in countries such as France (21%), the Netherlands (13%) or Germany (13%), we continue to observe a worrying shift of far-right parties towards the mainstream. After an initial prudence in involving such parties in government coalitions, the case in Austria, nevertheless, paves the way for extreme right parties to be included in governance, a path in contradiction with European values ​​of tolerance and solidarity. Unfortunately, although with some exceptions, the rising wave of extreme nationalist populism does not yet show signs of crashing.

Photo: FPO

24.Oct

October 24th, 2017

Sports betting: Africa’s hard tackle

EDITOR:

Bob Koigi, Nairobi

In what has become testament to growing frustration by a majority of the young population in Africa, scenes of sprouting betting shops, slot machines, online gaming and casinos are quickly turning into a common phenomenon across the continent, luring the youth with the promise of making a quick and hustle free buck.

But beyond this promise, is a catalogue of broken homes, clinical cases of desperation and at times suicide occasioned by bet losses.

In East Africa for example, one of the regions where sports betting is enjoying fanatical following, there has been numerous reports of youth draining their savings or taking loans to participate in betting. Yet as the multibillion dollar industry continues to thrive, the youth are finding themselves worse off than they were before engaging in gambling games, with psychiatrists positing that the current addiction by a majority of young people has reached epidemic proportions, with those who loose increasingly preferring suicide.

While the proponents of gambling have always positioned it as a healthy pass time that is equally an income generator for any government, tales of addicts who are willing to do anything to gamble, and who are increasingly being ostracised by society, makes this no ordinary pastime. Various countries are already revisiting gambling laws, with others instituting complete shutdown of betting joints in a bid to rescue their youth.

While the jury is still out on whether any institution has a moral right and authority to infringe on the kind of pastime an adult of sound mind chooses to engage in, it is a black and white affair that no nation ever prospered by allowing the cream of its society: the youth believe in the easy way out. There are meaningful, decent and sustainable ways to cure unemployment in Africa among the young population. Betting isn’t one of them.

22.Oct

October 22nd, 2017

On the dreadful path of death and destruction

EDITOR:

Shadi Khan Saif, Kabul

All warring sides in Afghanistan seem to have adopted the dreadful path of death and destruction following the announcement of the new US war strategy for the conflict-riddled country.

With no encouraging signs of any headway towards resuming the stalled peace process, the sudden surge in gruesome deadly incidents across the country has sparked fears about the overall prospects of ending the war that has now entered its 17th year.

Responding to an array of mounting air and drone strikes by the US and Afghan forces, this week the Taliban carried out multiple suicide car bombings in at least three different provinces, killing more than 100 security personnel, and civilians who were going about their everyday life activities.

On Wednesday morning, multiple suicide car bombings rocked Gardez city, capital of the southeastern Paktia province, at a distance of less than one hundred miles from the heavily guarded Afghan capital Kabul. More than 50 lives were lost there, including the police chief for the province, and a number of young Paktia University students and many common citizens queuing-up for identity cards, passports and other documents near the site of the attack.

The Ghazni province’s Andar district and Kandahar’s Maiwand district saw similar assaults resulting in the loss of over 70 lives in the blink of an eye.

Now, looking at what the other parties to the conflict are doing would picture a very clear image of the situation on the ground. Since the announcement of the new US war strategy for Afghanistan in August, the US Forces in Afghanistan (USFOR – A) conducted at least 751 air strikes in the month of September alone, according to a US Air Forces Central Command report.

On its part, the Afghan ministries of defence and interior are issuing statements on the killing of tens of suspected militants on a daily basis.

Where is all of this death and destruction leading us then? The US, arguably the major player in this scenario has already pledged to send in more troops, and is also pushing its Nato allies to follow suit. On the other side, the Taliban and other militant groups do not seem to be having a manpower supply issue after all, both due to the prevailing fundamental ideology in the region and some pull factors created by state actors.

There does seem to be a broader consensus, at least among some wise quarters, that the raging war in Afghanistan is not the answer to the ongoing problem in the country. One wonders then why there aren't any tangible moves on the ground to at least pave way for a political settlement instead of all this warmongering.

In today’s media world, new events have a shelf life of several days, at best, and a couple of Tweets, at worst. But the charcoaled skeleton of the Grenfell council block continues to tower over the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, black, destroyed and traumatised, making it an inescapable reminder to survivors, residents and volunteers that their government has failed to aid them in the most desperate of incidents.

Four months after the fire broke in the social housing block, survivors continue to fight for a recognition of their rights, and with that, their humanity. Since then only 14 families have been rehoused, while 159 had turned down temporary housing offers that were squeezed in haphazardly to meet Theresa May’s deadline for all affected families to be offered temporary housing before July 5th. The Grenfell Response Team (GRT) said that “traumatised families could not be rushed into accepting offers to meet artificial targets and that most families were holding out for permanent homes.”

Over the past few weeks, dozens of funeral notifications circulated in the area and on Facebook. The survivors of the fire have hardly been given the privilege of mourning for their lost families, and the sudden displacement of their community. Last week alone saw the burial of 22 children, women and men; some for entire family members or households. “The number of children who have died makes these losses especially bitter. These were the next generation of the community, people at the beginning of their lives who had everything to live for.” Said Yvette Williams of the Justice 4 Grenfell campaign.

As scaffolding began engulfing the tower last week, floor by floor white sheeting is being put in place to cover the distressing sight of its remains. Yet Grenfell survivors are worried this will be the first in many steps to whitewash not only the accountability of both the borough council of Kensington and Chelsea and the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), but the legal implications of such criminal negligence.

A recovery security committee has recently been founded to give a platform for the voices of Grenfell survivors. But how can a community affected by such an incident begin to reform itself, heal from the unimaginably futile loss of lives? To lose a generation of young members of a community engraves a hereditary trauma that will leak into decades to come.

Amidst the lack of liability, the unknown number of lives lost due to the severity of the fire in conjunction with the deaths of several undocumented residents; the silent march that took place just last Saturday and the lost voices of those who died; it’s crucial to maintain the link between the committee and public safety at high priority, and to continue empowering citizens to keep corporations and councils accountable.

18.Oct

October 18th, 2017

Portugal’s neglected interior up in flames (again)

EDITOR:

Maria João Morais, Madrid

Entire villages razed to the ground, historic areas of natural beauty completely wiped out, woodland burned to ashes and an intolerably high death toll. Forest fires that raged across northern and central Portugal last Sunday, killing over 40 people, once again caused a scene of bleak and tragic devastation.

Just as the Portuguese began recovering from last June’s shock, tragedy repeated itself only four months after the deadliest wildfires in the country’s history, which killed 65 people, most trapped in their cars in a desperate attempt to flee the blazes.

Behind yet another disaster, was an explosive mixture of contributing factors of incomprehensive scales. Insufficient preventative measures, weak or absent forest management, deficiencies in the largely volunteer fire brigade, an uncoordinated response, lack of information, the effect of climate change, vested interests of the paper industry and criminal activity. The list could go on.

But one significant, yet hardly reported reason behind such a massive tragedy has been the rural exodus from the Portuguese interior, where the wildfires wreaked havoc. The younger generation simply leave to seek opportunities elsewhere. Many go abroad (with a domestic population of 10 million, Portugal has a 5 million-strong diaspora), whilst others move to the coastal cities (over 70% of the country's population is concentrated on the coast), leaving the older population more and more abandoned and isolated.

In rural areas, the ageing population has little capacity to maintain forests and clear flammable brush and detritus, which fuel and spread fires, culminating in the brutal ecological and human destruction witnessed in the recent wildfires.

Furthermore, Portugal is one of the most heavily forested countries in Europe. However, most of its woodland is privately owned (over 85%), often by absent owners who poorly manage and neglect the forest.

Additionally, many criticise the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy as being a total misfit for Portugal. Experts say that funds from Brussels have been poorly channelled, discouraging activities such as cattle farming which is very helpful in cleaning forest brush. Alongside the disappearance of cattle, planting of non-autochthonous trees such as the highly flammable eucalyptus has soared, catering to the needs of the paper industry.

Taking everything into account, blame must fall on the successive governments who have done little more than turn their backs on the countryside, encouraging the centralisation of all kinds of public services from health to education, and offering few incentives to set up any type of business or industry in the interior. Repeated failures from Portugal’s authorities are responsible for not only the loss of over 100 lives, but also for the destruction of the country’s increasingly scarce ecological heritage.

Photo: Hélio Madeiras

17.Oct

October 17th, 2017

Placing the African youth at the heart of the food security debate

EDITOR:

Bob Koigi, Nairobi

By the year 2050, the global population will hit the 10 billion mark from the current 7 billion, with half of the world’s population living in the African continent. In context, about 83 million people are added to the world’s population each year, studies show.

This has put unprecedented pressure on food, with more mouths to feed. Yet agricultural land is dwindling and competing with other sectors like real estate and natural resources. Furthermore, changes in climate has meant a dip in yields and the altering of planting and harvesting seasons has taken a toll on food availability and security among the global population. In majority of African cities, reports indicate, at least a third of those living in urban areas are ultra-hungry.

And as the world marks the World Food Day this week, agriculture is being positioned as the magic bullet to solving some of the most biting challenges of the 21st century, from unemployment, and radicalisation to migration, especially among the youth. Indeed the theme of this year’s celebration, ‘Change the future of migration; Invest in food security and rural development,’ is a clarion call to policy makers, governments and key players in the sector to imagine holistic approaches that can bolster an agricultural system that is able to feed the burgeoning population while creating jobs for the unemployed.

In Africa, over 70 per cent of the population relies on agriculture for income. Yet the sector suffers from poor yields, rudimental farming practices and pests and diseases. The youth have shunned it, despite a majority of them being unemployed and their desperation as a result of lacking job availabilities is pushing them into extremes; from joining militia groups that prey on their desperation, to migration in search of greener pastures which have in many instances turned tragic.

Agriculture has been stigmatised as a 'poor man's job', but in fact it's the only sector that holds the promise of creating millions of jobs and an unlimited world of possibilities for the youth. The World Bank posits that Africa holds a trillion dollar food market and can comfortably feed its people and export the surplus while allowing its people to earn from it. But the continent’s food security is hinged on attracting the youth into agribusiness. Governments need to set in place the right environments to bait the young people into the trade and enabling policy reforms that encourage more investments from the private sector, to private players who need to step up their resolve through incentives that point young people to meaningful jobs in agriculture. The future of food security in Africa has to be addressed with the urgency it deserves. It is no longer a matter of if, but when.

A protest rally in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad earlier this week was hushed up by the government as an insignificant move of opposition parties against the civil and military establishment.

It was all but an insignificant move on the political arena in the country where the voice of the masses is fast diminishing amid louder shouts of the elites. This public rally was against a draconian law that has been denying very basic rights to millions of people. The Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) residents in the northwest of Pakistan continue to live under the British-era colonial law in this age of postmodernism, where the world is witnessing a surge in movements for more freedom and rights.

The extent of discrimination towards the Pashtun tribesmen in Pakistan is unparalleled. When people from here see inauguration of metro train services and a variety of other developments in cities like Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad and then return to their mud homes and dusty streets – where even basic health, education and employment opportunities are literally non-existent – they are very likely to tilt toward frustration and militancy and rebellion.

In clear contrast to the rest of Pakistan, this large swath of land is ruled by the government, particularly its army with an iron rod. And, the dejected tribesmen here remain on their mercy for very basic needs, over a century after the British first imposed the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) in 1901.

The FATA area, close to the size of Belgium, is governed with rules that categorically state that three basic rights; namely the right to request a change to a conviction in any court, the right to legal representation and the right to present reasoned evidence are not applicable to its residents. Furthermore, it permits collective punishment of family or tribe members for crimes of individuals, and denies the locals many basic rights provided to the rest of Pakistanis elsewhere in the country.

The representatives of Wazir, Afridi, Momand, Orakzai, Mehsud, Bajur and other tribes have long been pushing the Pakistani government to immediately repeal this law, but they are confronted with a rather cold and cunning response from the ruling quarters.

A longstanding proposal for reforms and likely a merger of FATA into the Khyber Pakthunkhwa province – where its residents would at least fall under the jurisdiction of the country’s Constitution – seems to have hit a snag as the army and political groups in the country continue to engage in wrangling for their own vested interests.

Living in countries where democracy has been the foundations of society for decades, it’s hard to fathom what it might feel like to head to the polls to vote for a president who will precede Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female president and Liberia’s symbol of democracy.

Lines outside polling stations grew ceaselessly Tuesday night as the elections day came to a close. And while the freedom to vote in a country that until 11 years ago was under vicious civil wars is a cause for celebration, with over 20 candidates running for the position in office, analysts believe no one will win with a straight 50% majority vote.

“For the first time in three generations we will be transferring presidential authority democratically and peacefully from one elected leader to another” Sirleaf said the night before the election. For the first time in Liberian history, the country is also managing its own elections, without the help of the UN.

Tuesday may have been a somewhat peaceful election day, yet the candidates on choice seem to stand for a political reality vastly different from that of Sirleaf’s 12 year tenure in office, during which time she was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Leading the polls are Prince Johnson, former rebel leader who played a big role in the First Liberian Civil War and is widely known for his capture, mutilation and murder of former President Samuel Doe. Another candidate running for the high seat is former international football player George Weah, who has been sitting in the Senate since 2014. But no hopeful female successor is amongst the male heavy candidate line – for the time being, Sirleaf remains the first and only president in African history.

During her time as Liberia’s President, Sirleaf stabilised a country that has otherwise suffered from tumultuous civil wars, dating back decades. Prior her democratic election in 2006, the role of the president was often chosen by either corrupt elections, or simply the murdering of one ruler by the next. Another challenge for Sirleaf during her presidency was the collapse of Liberia’s health service after the catastrophic outbreak of the West African virus of Ebola, where Liberia was among the countries worst affected between 2013 to 2016.

According to the polls, over 2 million citizens will vote for a leader who promises to stabilise Liberia’s economy and boost access to electricity; in conjunction many of the country’s women have set camps outside one of Monrovia’s busiest streets in a collective pray that this power shift brings continued peace.

What Tuesday’s elections will bring to one of the world’s poorest countries, where approximately 64% of the population live below the poverty line, is still unknown. But what is certainly needed is a leader who will preserve the immeasurable stability and rhetoric of peace brought on by a women who must never be forgotten.

11.Oct

October 11th, 2017

Nobel Peace Prize hoping to calm global nuclear tensions

EDITOR:

Maria João Morais, Madrid

The Nobel Prize Committee has awarded this year’s Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a coalition of campaigners from over 100 countries that works towards achieving a total ban on nuclear weapons.

In a time when global concern over nuclear war is at its highest level for decades, the Oslo-based committee is sending an important message to leaders in Washington and Pyongyang.

The prize recognises ICAN’s effort in drawing attention to the disastrous consequences of this kind of weapon. The organisation played a key role in the negotiations that led to the United Nations signing an historic Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons last June. However, the world’s nine biggest nuclear powers: the US, Russia, France, the UK, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, boycotted the treaty. It's now hoped that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize could help pressurise countries who haven´t signed the treaty, with the next step involving the nuclear-armed states.

Because of today's increasingly high risks, as the fallout between the US and North Korea escalates and with American president Donald Trump threatening to abandon the nuclear deal reached with Iran, the prize's award is timely. However, tensions have not stopped rising: in a period of just twenty months, Kim Jong-un has released ten mid-range ballistic missiles and overseen three nuclear tests. The White House's response could not be less conciliatory with Trump promising "fire and fury never seen before in the world."

If leaders of nuclear nations continue clinging to the outdated idea that such weapons provide security, it is crucial that citizens increase their fight to assert an opposing view: that aggressive foreign policy jeopardises a country’s security and can lead to consequences of unspeakable proportions.

It is therefore clear, that nuclear nations cannot be expected to assume the role of peace makers. Pressure from civil society, enhancing social awareness and increased media pressure must be used to prevent nuclear proliferation spiralling out of control. ICAN activists work through these means and their effort today is more important than ever.

11.Oct

October 11th, 2017

Time to crack the whip on Burundi atrocities, once and for all

EDITOR:

Bob Koigi, Nairobi

Burundi's inability to keep its house in order is an open secret. In one of the most atrocious incidences in the East African region, during a period of just two years, over 2,000 people have been killed and over half a million displaced from their homes and forced to seek cover in neighbouring countries.

In April 2015, Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza declared he would vie for a third term in office; a move that goes against the constitutional provisions that allow a maximum of two terms. Needless to say, this triggered a bloodbath occasioned by indiscriminate and frequent killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and rape.

Over 100 journalists have fled the country since the war broke for fear of their lives. The climax of the atrocities happened last month when police opened fire on a group of refugees peacefully demonstrating to have their country and its sanity restored. At least 39 of them were killed, including a 10 year old girl. President Nkurunziza’s government remains unmoved and has blocked all channels of engagement with regional and international actors.

Attempts by the East Africa Community mediating team, UN Security Council, the Human Rights Council's Commission of Inquiry and the African Union to ameliorate the situation has hit a dead end. The country has also withdrawn from the International Criminal Court as a way of shielding itself from prosecution on crimes against humanity.

The killings and torture however continue unabated and have threatened to return the country to the civil war that claimed over 350,000 lives between 1993 and 2005. Yet the international community has all the resources to stop this. The East African Community and the African Union, two bodies that President Nkurunziza retreats to enforce the sovereignty of Burundi should crack the whip and force him to understand that a state cannot be sovereign when its people live in fear.

Guided by the 2015 Peace and Security Council resolutions, the African Union should institute targeted sanctions on the holders of the highest office responsible for the mass atrocities, while forcing Burundi's government to allow deployment of AU human rights observers and military experts. The UN and the international community must also impose strict and targeted sanctions on anyone mentioned in the perpetration of crimes against humanity.

These are extraordinary times in the country and they call for a change in modus operandi if the world wants to avoid yet another genocide, because this has all the hallmarks of one.